


Harrison Mission: Report Delayed

by EpiphanyBlue



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Fate & Destiny, Father Figures, Friendship, Gen, Hidden Depths, Monologue, Past Character Death, Post-Star Trek: Into Darkness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 10:13:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1092679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EpiphanyBlue/pseuds/EpiphanyBlue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a patch of open country some miles from Starfleet Headquarters, Captain James T. Kirk gives a long overdue and highly informal mission report to his first and finest superior officer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Harrison Mission: Report Delayed

Ah. Evening.  
Hello- Sir. Captain. Sorry- Admiral? Admiral  
Hey, Pike. It’s me. It’s Jim. Jim Kirk.  
I think I owe you a report.  
It appears that against all odds, I made it. I got through this one. So if you were worrying at all, you can stop. I bet you weren’t, were you? You probably knew from the beginning I could do it. Which puts you a step above me. Because I didn’t.  
I mean, no, wait. No! I didn't do it, it wasn’t me. My crew, my friends—they did it. I have to give them all the credit. Hope that’s not a first.  
I bet it is, though. Figures.  
But, you know Spock. And Uhura, you remember her? Right, of course… they were all on your crew.  
How did you do that?  
Spock, Uhura, that whiz kid Chekov- he saved Scotty and me both. You were right to put him up there. And Bones—sorry, that’s Doctor McCoy, I guess—his crazy experiments have some use after all. Would you have thought I had a lot in common with a tribble? But he figured it out, and if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t be talk... I wouldn't be here. Now.  
I owe all of them my life. And you. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have... any of them. I'm not sure I'd even have me.  
It was more than close. Maybe you heard? I was about to be put on record, a legend, maybe, sharing my father’s fate. Which would have been fine with me. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, for a while I really thought it might be the best way. It's very- respectable. Honorable.  
Perhaps too much so.  
Too much for some reckless kid without an ounce of humility.  
I wish—so many things. I wish I had figured myself out earlier. I wish I hadn’t needed those second chances. I’m glad I got them, just… I wish I hadn’t needed them. Because I still think, sometimes, that you died not knowing if you were right. About me. Not about the bad things, you had the bad things. You knew the bad things. But whether you were right to help me, to vouch for me. To trust me.  
I mean, it seemed I had started to show up like a good piece of work and then- I just blew it. They probably thought you were crazy.  
They probably thought you were crazy. And that’s where you left. Still that possibility that, at least where I was concerned, you were just wasting your time.  
I think that was part of what got to me, what made me so insane. No one else is going to tell you this, but it's a lie if I don't. I was insane. I got upset, so I go and do the same damn thing I've always done. Ignoring everyone, ignoring my own sense. Firing at will. With a whole crew on my hands.  
When I found Harrison, I wailed on him. He had just taken out these Klingons, there were bodies everywhere. Spock and Uhura were shouting at me, and Harrison— no. Khan Noonien Singh, a superhuman. He didn’t feel a thing. He stared at me and echoed, 'Captain.' As if he... He couldn’t believe it.  
But here I am.  
I believe it. I get it now, and I believe it.  
With any luck I'm not just deluding myself, but I think I'm a lot more aware of what the rank actually means. It's not about competition, it's not about rewards, and it's definitely not about greater freedom. It's not about showing you're better, it's about being something that is better. Because no one, especially no one in Starfleet, should just accept that the people in power are the ones who should be there. They should witness it, constantly. They deserve at least that much. They should know it by experience.  
As I did. And I am not about to ruin it for you.  
I'm gonna be part of a new vision… a whole new Starfleet. And I think- and I hope- it’s the kind of thing you would have wanted.  
I hope you’re proud of me.


End file.
